Kenya Kwanza MCAs have vowed to disrupt operations in all county assemblies from next week, despite a directive by the coalition leadership to call off the strike.
Through the Association of Members of County Assemblies (AMCA), they said they will not rest until their demands for ward fund, security, pension and salary review were addressed.
Early in the week, UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala directed all Kenya Kwanza-affiliated county assemblies to cease being parties to decisions by third parties.
Malala, in a letter directed leaders of majority in the assemblies to make sure that the directive was adhered to and to report any MCA who goes against the order.
But AMCA secretary general Stanley Karanja dismissed the threats, saying they are fighting for the welfare of the MCAs and it has nothing to do with parties.
The UDA MCA from Naivasha East accused the government of giving them a raw deal.
“The County Assembly Forum that is composed of speakers is misleading the government despite earning a lot and doing little at the assemblies,” he said.
The vocal MCA said they will continue to agitate for salary review from the current Sh86,000 to the previous Sh165,000, which was slashed on directives from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
“We thought that our demands for wards fund would be among the discussions by the bipartisan committee from the government and the opposition but this has been ignored,” he said.
Speaking in Naivasha after a consultative meeting, Viwandani MCA Mwangi Muraya faulted Malala saying that the calls for better remuneration has nothing to do with the party.
The UDA ward rep said none of their demands had been addressed by the government leading to the current impasse.
“The government is not taking our grievances seriously and we have resolved that all the 47 county assemblies shall adjourn indefinitely,” he said.
This was echoed by Eburru-Mbaruk MCA Michael Gathanwa who said that the move to slash their salaries was meant to kill devolution.
“We are not seeking for salary increase but for the reinstatement of our previous earnings which were slashed by SRC in unclear circumstances,” he said.
Lakeview MCA Alex Mbugua wondered why the government had refused to give MCAs pension yet other retired leaders had benefited.
“The President, governors, senators, MPs and even Woman Reps have a fund allocated to them but for some unknown reasons the MCAs have been forgotten,” he said.
